State puts Buffalo schools over barrel with consulting costs

James M. Odato

Published 9:53 pm, Sunday, September 2, 2012

A school bus passes City Hall at a rally and Buffalo schools boycott Monday, May 16, 2011, in Buffalo, N.Y. Some parents in Buffalo kept their children out of class Monday and then gathered on the steps of City Hall to protest the city school system's low graduation rates and underperforming schools. (AP Photo/David Duprey)

The State Education Department required the City of Buffalo School District to hire a "distinguished educator" if it wanted millions of public dollars.

And the only person designated as a "DE" by State Education Commissioner John B. King Jr. got the job. As a result, Buffalo will be eligible for $42 million in grant money to fix up seven of the impoverished district's schools, and Judy Elliott is eligible for $8,975 weekly from the board of education — if she works a 40-hour week.

The Albany-based education department assigned Elliott to Buffalo, but it was up to the school board to arrive at her compensation. She would not work for less than $190 an hour and $275 per day in expense money. The district met her terms and Elliott is working for at least 25 days to come up with an action plan to improve the Buffalo schools.

"We did negotiate down, actually," said Elena Cala, a district spokeswoman. "There was actually back-and-forth before there was a mutually agreed-upon amount."

She said the district, which is operating at a $49 million deficit, knew the federal funds controlled by the SED would not be forthcoming without Elliott in the fold. That means the educator, who served as chief academic officer in Los Angeles' Unified School District, enjoys some leverage. Other potential DEs are on a wait list and could be appointed as needed, but right now Elliott stands alone; when she's done working in Buffalo, she could be reassigned in another underperforming district in New York. A school district is not allowed to choose from a list of potential candidates to work a better deal and must accept the consultant King assigns.

Tom Dunn, a spokesman for King, said there are other "DEs" in the candidate pool. "A future DE contract with another district will reflect the circumstances of that appointment," Dunn said. "We do not anticipate her being appointed to serve as a DE in any other districts at this time."

The DE reports to King, and the school district must cooperate fully with the consultant.

The Commissioner may appoint a distinguished educator as a consultant for up to one year and the DE could be reappointed for an additional year, Dunn said. "Right now we are not requiring anyone else to do it, but stay tuned," said Dunn. Other districts with underperforming schools could be required to follow the Buffalo program.

"One way to look at it is it's a way of contracting out a portion of SED's bureaucratic oversight responsibility at the expense of the district," said E.J. McMahon, director of the Empire Center for New York State Policy.

Manhattan lawyer Gerald B. Lefcourt, who received $46,059 from Brooklyn Assemblyman Vito Lopez's campaign fund for "professional" services in the first quarter of this year, is also a very active donor to several political accounts. Candidates receiving checks include Gov. Andrew Cuomo ($1,550); Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance, ($1,500); Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver ($200); Attorney General Eric Schneiderman ($100); the Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee ($2,200); and Albany County DA hopeful Lee Kindlon ($100). Lefcourt, a Brooklyn Law School graduate, has had a variety of high-profile clients, including former Speaker Mel Miller.